Accuracy issues with Stevens 110E

J

JFortner5

Inactive
I've got a Stevens 110e series K .30-06. It was given to me several years ago. When I first got it it had some old cheap scope on it, and we had problems sighting it in. I bought a new scope and rings a couple years ago and from what I remember we had it shooting pretty well. I didn't touch the gun for a few years after that.

I recently got back into hunting. Me and my hunting buddy took the guns to the range a month or so ago. At 100 yards, my group is about 1'. We could shoot it, and make adjustments to the scope, and then the next shot would be off the other way. I let my friend shoot it, who is a better marksman than me, and he had the same problem.

I got home and decided to clean the gun really well. Admittedly I had not done that in quite some time and it was really dirty. Once I had it clean we went back out to the range. I was pretty excited thinking maybe the cleaning would help, but it was the same thing all over again.

Because the gun was given to me I don't know much about the history of it. Is there any way to tell if the scope is bad or if maybe the barrel is just worn out? I don't want to buy another scope if it's not going to help me.

Thanks,
Joey
 
i bought 2 110's both in 06 about 25 years ago. had same type issue one had loose objective lens the other the scope bases had come loose first thing i'd check. if loose tighten down then remove one screw and use blue loctite then retorque base screws remount scope and test ay the range.
 
Is the group 1 ft. or 1 in.? You said 1' so I am just confirming you meant 1ft. If a rifle will group but not zero, the problem is the scope and not the rifle. If the rifle will not group, the problem could be either.
 
It's 1 foot give or take I didn't measure. It's all over the place though. The first time shooting it after I cleaned it really well, I hit about an inch above where I was aiming. I thought we had fixed it. The 2nd shot was way off to the left. Next one way down and to the right. It won't group at all. We did move the target up to about 40-50 yards and could hit it pretty consistent.

I will check the scope mount and make sure everything is snug. Maybe I should take it all apart and loctite it and reassemble. Hunting season is over in a few days so it's not urgent, but I'd like to get it fixed just to go target shooting for fun and so I know it's dialed in for next year.

I'm tired of borrowing my friend's guns.
 
Are you shooting off a rest? If so where are you supporting the rifle? If you aren't using a rest, try that. If you are make sure you are placing the rifle in it the same every time and it may make a huge difference. Also be sure you aren't putting pressure or resting on the barrel. I have seen people place the last few inches of their barrel on a fence post while shooting and then wonder why it wont shoot straight.
 
We had the gun resting on a backpack. Come to think of it though it may have been under the barrel. I didn't think that would make a difference. It would be better to have a real rest or sand bags but when shooting it I felt that I was making good shots.


My plan of attack is to buy a one piece scope base and new rings. If that doesn't work I'll try a known good scope off of my buddies rifle. If that still doesn't work I may be in the market for a new rifle.
 
The problem with letting the barrel rest on anything is that it applies pressure where it is touching. This can cause problems with repeatability as every time the rifle fires the contents of the back pack can shift so every shot you get variations in contact and pressure against the barrel. I use a rest that does not have a stopper behind the butt. It only cradles the butt and forearm. I am very careful to place the rifle on the rest the exact same way for every shot for consistency. And I place the rest only slightly forward of the action thereby not applying any pressure to the far end of the stock or barrel its self.
 
My guess is that the scope you have came on the rifle when new, and they put some pretty cheap scopes on them back then. If the mounts are tight I would not change them until after I tried another scope of none quality. 25 years ago the finish on the 110`s coming from the factory was getting better, but not what it is today. My first guess is bad scope. Second, scope mounts. After that it could be the barrel needs floated, but that should not correct a 1 ft. group. Could be barrel nut loose or cracked, or a number of other thing. I have several Savages and buy every one that is cheap, because I like to play with wildcats and the Savage action is so easy to change barrels on.
 
You have already replaced the scope, but that may or may not be the problem. What kind of scope and rings did you get? Is there any damage to the muzzle? Is anything loose?
Start at the beginning and go through everything. If you can't find anything obvious, do this:
Loosen the action screws and re-torque them to 30-35 in-lbs, front screw first with the rifle vertical and the butt on the floor.
Pull the scope off, loosen and re-torque the scope bases to 15-20 in-lbs, reinstall the rings on the bases but leave them loose, put the scope on and tighten the rings to about 10 in-lbs, then tighten the rings to the bases, then tighten the rings to the scope to 15-20 in-lbs.
Then take it to the range and see what it can do with the stock on sandbags.
 
Sorry, but I have no suggestions to correct the very poor accuracy of your Savage 110. Seems other posters have done a good job on finding the problem.

FWIW, last week, my step-son asked me to take his seven or so year old Savage 110 30-06 to range I'm a member to check the zero on the Leupold Rifleman 3-9 scope on it. He had opportunity to go hunting with the rifle. So, I reloaded some 30-06 ammo using what I thought was a decent shooting load for my 30-06 rifles and would eventually shoot around 30 rounds at a 100 yd target. After firing a few rounds at 50 yds to check zero and see where my reloads would hit, I shot a couple of his factory rounds to compare with my reloads on where they'd hit on the target. My reloads hit about the same elevation on target as the factory ammo he furnished.

Shooting from benchrest, I never did get a 3 shot group that I was satisfied with, which is something around a 1" group on a hundred yard target. Probably 1 1/2" to 2" group is about the best I could do. Shot some of his factory ammo too and had same results.

Went to range two days. After first day of shooting the rifle, I did a trigger job on the rifle....reduced trigger pull from around 7 lbs to 3 lbs, checked the scope mount screws ( which were tight) and etc. Reducing trigger pull helped some for accuracy. Checked some other things concerning the barreled action contact with the plastic stock on the rifle....but noted nothing to be concerned about.

In short, kinda surprised I couldn't shoot a better group with the rifle. I own a few Savage rifles myself that definitely shoot better than my step sons 110 Savage.
 
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I really appreciate the replies. I haven't tried anything yet I've been in the woods a lot the past few days. Hunting season is over so I will put all of this information to use.

Thanks
 
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